


stack of cards and the wind

by Pigeonat



Category: Miraculous Ladybug
Genre: A whole lot of friendship, Chloé Bourgeois Redemption, F/F, F/M, Gen, Lila Rossi Bashing, Lila Rossi Lies, Lila Rossi's Lies Are Exposed, M/M, My First Work in This Fandom, Sweet Marinette Dupain-Cheng | Ladybug, of... sorts, they are all smart children, they r all children learning from their mistakes and thats okay
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2020-07-14
Updated: 2020-11-08
Packaged: 2021-03-04 17:30:30
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 5
Words: 10,149
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/25270138
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Pigeonat/pseuds/Pigeonat
Summary: In the end, It was a tiny, misplaced brick. A small wind that carried and eventually toppled over the first apple in a fruit stand in a market in the town that lived in a kingdom of.. well, lies.The kingdom fell not with a loud crash or many injuries, but rather a soft thump of cards that eventually scatter into the winds.(In which Lila meets her undoing: classmates that simply aren't so unobservant.)
Relationships: Alya Césaire/Nino Lahiffe, Chloé Bourgeois & Sabrina Raincomprix, Ivan Bruel/Mylène Haprèle, Juleka Couffaine/Rose Lavillant, Marc Anciel/Nathaniel Kurtzberg, Marinette Dupain-Cheng | Ladybug & Classmates, Marinette Dupain-Cheng | Ladybug & Lê Chiến Kim & Nino Lahiffe, Max Kanté & Alix Kubdel & Lê Chiến Kim
Comments: 72
Kudos: 672





	1. the wind picks up

**Author's Note:**

> hi!! this is my first MLB work and i havent seen any MLB episodes for 2 years! this means im not properly informed on any of season three. i havent seen it. it didnt exist when i stopped watching. but im back in the fandom and i thought i'd write something for it because i had a few ideas i wanted to try! 
> 
> i hope you enjoy!
> 
> (the plan is 3 people per chapter because according to my maths there are 15 people in the class. thats the plan. lets hope it works.)

It was all like a stack of cards, really. Lila’s downfall, in the end, was not a big, crashing thump, or a loud explosion. It was not a public outcry, or a demand for justice.  
  
It was a tiny, misplaced brick. A small wind that carried and eventually toppled over the first apple in a fruit stand in a market in the town that lived in a kingdom of.. well, lies.  
  
Lila was smart. She was very smart. She knew how to spin words in her favor, using sympathy and tears and ruthlessness in her favor. She cared not of those around her as little more than puppets on a string. Ones she could cut off and ruin easily.

  
In the end, Marinette didn’t do anything. She didn’t call Jagged Stone and ask if he had a cat, even if she had his phone number from his commissions. She didn’t make up a case and get proof and expel Lila. She didn’t make her own blog or say something as Ladybug.  
  
She just sat back, and “Took the high road”.  
  
And it was horrible, but as it turns out, the class isn’t all that dumb. And are most assuredly _not_ mindless sheep.  
  
It was one, tiny, misplaced brick. Eventually, someone noticed.  
  
First, it was Max. You see, he liked to write what happened to him throughout the day, to collect his thoughts and improve his memory. He’d write down the big events and the small events and then adjust his glasses, which by then had already slipped down his nose.

Sometimes, he liked to look back on past days, usually just a few days behind, just to see what he could improve on, perhaps little things he missed that he’d jot down. See his day with fresh eyes and a working brain. (Sometimes, you see, he’d write in the dia- ahem, journal, late into the night, which… led to some mistakes. He... does not want to talk about the Panflip incident. As it turns out, autocorrect does not work in real life.)

He was looking back on past days with a particularly odd feeling, as if he should be looking for something.... And then he recalls the napkin incident. Where Lila said… that Marinette was trying to gorge his eyes out.  
  
With a napkin. That was balled up. To him. Who wears glasses.  
  
He stares blankly into the journal for a few seconds. Now, of course, this small discovery doesn’t make him immediately think Lila was evil and lying about everything, but…  
  
It planted a small seed. That started to sprout from Marinette’s heated and supposedly “jealous” comments about Lila. He begins to wonder just how genuine Lila is. how genuine her _adventures_ were.  
  
He begins to listen and check. Things he was ashamed to admit he did not do before- and of course he could excuse it with the fact that he believes friends, but he had always prided his sharp, strictly fact reputation, and this was a harsh blow to him. Not to mention… When did he consider Lila his friend, and denounce Marinette, who had been his friend for far longer?  
  
What gave him the right to do so? What gave _Lila_ the right to do so?

Yet still, he stayed quiet and absorbed lie after lie…

He goes to Marcov and determines that Lila had lied for.. much time. She hurt his friends, and he… he would not let this go.

Her kingdom of cards began to wobble.

* * *

Next, it was Alix. She’d always been the more practical one, and perhaps she thought the stories were rather cool.  
  
With so many well connected people in the class, could anyone be blamed for not looking at the bigger picture? (at the bigger lies? That was woven into every string and knot?)  
  
And really, she didn’t notice the lies at first. She’d rather enjoyed the stories and thought of them as amusing and engaging. Instead, what gave the tomboy a pause about Lila’s character was.. well...  
  
She noticed the constant… need for attention. When she won a rollerblading contest and the class complimented and congratulated her for the day, she noticed Lila immediately mentioned her supposed.. Uncle Philippe Candeloro, who was one of Alix’s favorite ice skating models, and of course Alix was deeply interested and listened in, but a part of her realized that everyone promptly.. forgot about her achievement.  
  
Of course she brushed it off, because Lila was a friend, why would she want to take attention away from Alix? Right? Right?  
  
As much as Alix was self confident, she was also stubborn and she didn’t want to believe her friend could do something like that. They… _were_ friends, right?  
  
However, as much as Alix was stubborn, she was also not afraid to say what was on her mind. She considered briefly talking to Kim about it, but quickly erased that thought from her mind. He’d either brush off her claims or get mad at her.

So… Max.

She’d go to Max, who was known for being factual and smart, so he’d be able to get a good consensus, right?

...Who, exactly, is Lila Rossi? Alix wonders.

* * *

Admittedly, when Alix came up to him asking about Lila a few days after he’d resolved to do more research on Lila, Max was shocked. He wondered if she wanted retribution for Marinette, and entertained concepts of that briefly, but as much as that probably could have been easy, Lila was still Alix’s friend, or so she believes. And if not that, then Alix had liked Lila anyways, and sure, she would be lied to, but she would not stoop to her level anyways.

And so he told her what he’d found. Lies, lies that could be solved with a simple search, that anyone could think of.  
  


“She told the class straight face that a balled up napkin could gouge out my eyes. I’m wearing glasses and the napkin was _balled up_ even if it was sharp or… something. And I believed it. We all did.”  
  
Alix screws her face up. “How did we miss that?” and she asked more questions.

  
“... So Lila is lying, one hundred percent, huh?” Alix says at the end, not as a question, but as a statement.

Because Alix wasn’t asking for revenge. She was asking because Lila was her friend, but Marinette was _also_ her friend, and did she not push Marinette out of her thoughts and pretend she didn’t exist? Didn’t she look at Marinette with heated eyes when Lila’s stories say just how _rotten_ Marinette supposedly was?

Didn’t she?  
  
It was a small, subtle change. But after that day, Alix didn’t seek out Lila voluntarily and would bring back topics from someone else's stories, of their acheivements, whenever she was there and Lila started one of her whimsical stories as if she had suddenly remembered and wished to praise _that_ person a bit more, the person that _wasn’t_ Lila, and sometime after her discovery of Lila's lies she apologized to Marinette with her skates in hand and a handmade apology note.  
  
And after that day, Max wouldn’t exactly _stop_ Lila, but he’d off-handedly sprout off some facts that directly _contradicted_ what she said, and wasn’t that so much sweeter, seeing her eyes widen a bit, before narrowing and attempting to see if his facts were just that, _facts_ , or if he had caught on, if she needed to cut strings before the fungi grows, before hurriedly laughing it away and explaining it with more _lies._

At that point, Max would stop expanding on the fact and pretend he bought it despite cold hard fact saying otherwise.

Marinette welcomed the two with open arms.  
  
The wind picks up, and the tower begins to shake.

* * *

The next one to notice was Rose. Rose was always a mediator. She didn’t want to pick one friend over the other, why would she? She doesn’t want to hurt anyone..

So when Lila talked about just how _cruel_ Marinette was and the others with their burning fires of _hatehatehate_ for Marinette burned brighter, she just stared at Marinette with a furrowed brow because she _knows_ that Marinette is the kindest girl she knows and she wouldn’t do that… right?

And so the seed was planted with the first words of Lila, not because her stories were so outrageous, but because she believes in Marinette, and she doesn’t pick sides.  
  
Because Lila is her friend but so was Marinette, and Rose doesn’t choose sides.  
  
Because they were all friends and Rose doesn’t like hurting others. Rose doesn’t choose sides.  
  
...But she does, doesn’t she?

Nevertheless, Rose goes on and she listens, because she believes in Marinette, but… Lila is her friend, and she also believes in Lila... and yet friends wouldn't... shouldn't lie about other friends... and yet Marinette claims Lila is a liar and Lila claims Marinette is a horrible person and that she, Lila, had done so _much_ to try and befriend her, that she had tried so _hard_ but Marinette just hates her for _no reason._ So who does she trust? Who is the liar? 

She choose Lila, at least in the start, (and it’s something that Rose will regret forever) because some days she’d look at Marinette, (seemingly) alone, in the back corner of the classroom and she _regrets_ because didn’t she basically abandon her friend for the promise of a crowd, of people who’d stay, and not even for her but for _her friend_?

And some days, she wonders if she and Lila are even considered friends. Classmates? If anything, Alya is the “friend”. Does Rose factor into that?

So even as Rose listens to Lila’s stories with gentle but content awe, she could not help but feel as if she were the one in the wrong. Something… was wrong. 

Of course, at first, she shakes it off but it permeates the air and refuses to leave so she confines in Juleka, always her, because she is her best friend and she’d know what to do..  
  
..right? 

Rose wasn’t sure anymore. She wasn’t sure of anything.

Sometimes, she wonders so desperately if true neutrality was achievable. Sometimes she wonders if it matters if true neutrality was achievable if one of her friends were getting hurt anyways.  
  
...Juleka would know what to do.  
  
She doesn't know what she'd do if she didn't. This was pulling her apart.  
  
  



	2. the clouds cover the sky

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Rose and Juleka connect some dots, Marc and Nathaniel wonder about Lila, and Chloe has always known that little fox was a lying fraud.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> hi guys! this is past me! the amount of kudos and stuff gathered in a single day was overwhelming and I felt really happy receiving them! thank you for commenting if you did! If you aren't a new reader please go back to chapter one as I made changes to them throughout the making of chapter two and yesterday!
> 
> I hope you guys enjoy this chapter! 
> 
> I want to get a schedule where I post every other day so let's pray that I can continue this writing :D

As it turns out, Juleka very much did not know what to do. She was, how to say, having her problems. Er… her own, very mild problems. Her own very very mild problems that are so mild they probably shouldn’t even be considered problems.  
  
But as it turns out, they still are considered problems and she's still having a crisis over it. Is it considered a crisis? She’s… not sure.

People have… people related crises, right? 

  
Her problem wasn’t just people (this time), it happened to be a… Lila related crisis.

But she wasn’t sure she could really say anything because… well, everyone liked Lila so much, would it even be okay to talk about how she lied? Would anyone care? Would they listen? Would they ignore it? Only, that wasn’t really her fear. What she truly was thinking of was the thought that they’d shove her aside and ignore her like Marinette. That’d she be alone again.

Well, never truly alone, but back when her photo curse was still active, she’d always felt a little lonely and she’s just relieved that they stayed with her. That they put up with her.

It does make one wonder. If the class could abandon one of the sweetest, nicest girls for a new girl with tales that Juleka sometimes found a little _too_ whimsical, how easy would it be to just… kick Juleka from the group? Perhaps Rose would refuse to talk to her, or maybe Alix would roll her eyes at her and say she doesn’t want to be friends anymore or maybe Nathaniel, who is so talented with the ladybug comic with Marc they’d decide they didn’t need a friend who was telling tales out of school or-

Well, anything could happen. 

So imagine her surprise when Rose, one of the sweetest people she knows, literally the one person she thinks would _never_ think badly of Lila Rossi, who is _apparently_ the one that came up with the Kitty Section music that _they_ , Her and Rose and _Luka_ and _Ivan_ and, oh gosh, _Marinette_ , made together, comes to Juleka and says “We need to talk,” with a firm voice that was often not present.

And perhaps this isn’t common knowledge, but Rose was _Juleka’s_ _girlfriend._ And as it turns out, “we need to talk” is typically when you know something is _going on_ with, oh, your _relationship._  
  
Literally all thoughts of Lila _shoot_ out of Juleka’s mind and she blurts out “What happened, what did I do?” And then _Rose_ looks all confused before realization dawns and she frantically waves her hands.  
  
“It isn’t about our relationship, I’m happy with what we have. This is different I just-” she cuts herself off, pausing. “I… just want to talk about Lila.”  
  
And wow, look at that. Suddenly Juleka remembers what she was thinking of literally two minutes ago, about when she was talking to Lila and she mentions she liked a lot of XY but was disappointed he copied Kitty Section’s song and _Lila_ goes “Oh, well, that’s funny, I actually know Kitty Section! I can get you some tickets to the next show! I actually came up with their first hit!”  
  
And then _Juleka_ pauses and goes, “Really?” with a slightly hopeful tone to her voice but _internally she was screaming because this means Marinette was_ right _and Lila is a big, fat, liar and how does she not recognize the members if she knows them? Shows? What shows? She didn’t come up with their first hit? Rose did! They all did! This would confirm Lila’s response and she really hopes she’s wrong and she just got the band name very much wrong…_

 _  
_ “Of course!” Lila beams, so _just in case,_ Juleka asks. “Kitty Section, really? Their tickets?”  
  
And Lila confirms it. 

“...uleka? Juleka? Hello?” Juleka blinks.  
  
“Oh… Lila? Yeah. Yeah of course. I.. might also have something to share about her myself..”  
  
Rose bits her lips. “So… I don’t know what it is but I’ve been getting this off feeling about Lila whenever she talks about her stories and adventures, and it all sounds so… I don’t know… I just feel as if something is a little… off?”  
  
“...yeah. Marinette was right.”  
  
Rose looks a little startled. “Huh?”  
  
“...Lila lied about knowing the Kitty Section.”  
  
“...but she does know us-”  
  
“She said she made our songs. That she came up with them. And she said she could get me tickets to the next show of theirs.” Juleka pauses. “So I asked her again. She said it was the Kitty Section and she knew them well.”  
  
“But we…”  
  
“ _We_ made the songs but she’s pretending she made them… like XY. She’s lying.”  
  
Rose furrows her brows. “But… I…. what do we do with this?”  
  
Juleka bits her lips. “I don’t know. I think I’ll tell Luka… should we tell the othe-”  
  
“Marinette!” Rose says suddenly. “We… we need to apologize to her!”

And so they did. The two went to the bakery and asked Sabine if they could see Marinette, eyes lowered and hands filled with chocolates and (at Rose’s insistence) a cute little note apologizing.  
  
“Oh, of course I forgive you!” Marinette says once she finished reading the note, hugging the two tight as they stumble through apologies and a ‘you don’t have to be friends with us, we understand if you don’t’, and the three girls smile sob and laugh, chocolates and the card forgotten on the floor.

And all is right, at that time.

* * *

Meanwhile, at the Kurtzberg household, Nathaniel “Nath” Kurtzberg isn’t doing quite as well. See, he was also going through a similar dilemma of “Oh no I know Lila is lying but I can’t talk about it with everyone because everyone likes her”. And he doesn’t particularly know what to do with that information.

It all started a few days back when Lila went to the art club, where she skipped in happily and enthusiastically, she then approached Nathaniel and Marc and asked to look at his drawings and Marc’s writings, citing that “[she] also draw(s) and write(s) in [her] freetime! But [she] hasn’t gotten the chance to do much writing and drawing since [she] moved!”

And of course, because they were working on the Ladybug Comic, he said no, politely but firmly, because of spoilers.  
  
So she says “Oh I mean, I know a bunch of famous writers and artists and I was just thinking, you know, I could recommend your art to them and make you more famous!”  
  
And now both Nathaniel and Marc are confused, because why would it matter? They could manage just fine without a recommendation? “We would be fine without the help of a famous artist or writer,” and at that point Nathaniel shrinks back a little because hey! Lila was loud and the club was looking curiously at them at that point.  
  
“But wouldn’t it be easier to gain some traction at first?” Lila implores. “I could look it over, maybe suggest a few ideas of my own and we could become _big_ !”  
  
By then Marc notices Nathaniel was feeling uncomfortable, because _of course he does, Marc is the best boyfriend anyone could have possibly asked for,_ and so he repeats what they said before, a little loudly and very much firmly, “We would be fine without the help of a famous artist or writer,” and then he pauses a little, and adds “and we do not need any help with the plot.”  
  
At that point Lila begins to tear up. “You don’t want to work with me?” she blubbers loudly, and Nathaniel ducks down and presses into Marc because _everyone was staring at them_.

Marc promptly sends a warning stare. “I apologize, but me and Nath are fine working alone.”  
  
Alix, who had overheard the encounter and was very much not impressed with Lila (not that she could particularly tell) butted in. “Hey Lila, can I see some of your writing or art from before you moved?” In which the brunette, caught off guard, bumbled through one excuse or another.  
  
Nathaniel peeked his head from Marc’s side and added. “Even if we were looking for another partner,” he started,  
  
“Which we are not.” Marc added.  
  
“We’d still need to see some of your drawings to get an idea of what your style is.” 

“And,” Marc continued. “You said that you didn’t draw or write much after you moved so I’m sure you are a little out of practice.”  
  
Lila bursted into tears. Nathaniel blinked owlishly at her. He noted faintly that she… wasn’t actually crying. Her face was dry. But the noises were quite convincing if he wasn’t looking for it. “Fine!” She says. “Whatever… it’s okay.” And then she turned around dramatically, hair swishing behind her and exited the art club, convincing not-sniffles following her as she went.  
  
Marc looks at Nathaniel blankly. Nathaniel does the same. “Did that really just happen?” Nathaniel wondered.  
  
Alix shook her spray paint bottle. “She’s a liar, you know.” she said quietly. 

Marc scroffed. “Well no offense to her but she’s not a very good one.” Nathaniel stared down at his paper. “But why..?” he asked.  
  
“Do we need a reason?” Alix questioned. “She still lies, and she still hurts Marinette.”  
  
“Marinette!” Nathaniel realizes. “I… I should apologize.”  
  
Alix purses her lip. “We did mess up big time but somehow, she forgives us. I wish she wasn’t so quick to forgive sometimes.”  
  
Nathaniel ducks his head. “Yeah.” he whispered.

Marc pats his back in support.

_And that brings Nathaniel to his current problem._ Let’s establish why.  
  
Lila is a liar, Alix knows, and Nathaniel is struggling to think of a way to apologize to Marinette. He stares at the ceiling. “But what would she want?” He asks Marc on the phone.

_“Marinette is the type of person to love any gift you give her, so give her something you spend your heart and soul into. Somehow, even if it’s just a flimsy card, I think she’ll understand.”_ Marc’s voice filters from the phone. _  
  
_

“.. heart and soul, huh?” Nathaniel mumbles. “I think I got an idea.” he pulls out a blank piece of paper.  
  
He looks back at the phone. “Thanks Marc, I’ll see you in school?”  
  
_“Of course. Good luck Nath!”_

Nathaniel looks determinedly at paper. “Heart and soul,” he mutters. “Heart and soul.”

Next week, Marinette brought in cookies, to which the class cheered, and Lila was found loudly talking about her “Uncle Wang, but only in word, I helped him win ‘The World’s Greatest Chef contest’, don’t you know?” But Nathaniel ignored that in favor of the little smiley face that was on his cookie that the others didn’t have.

Looks like Marinette got his apology.  
  
  


* * *

Unbeknownst to Nathaniel, Chloe also got a smiley face on her cookie, to which she immediately bites off.

Rolling her eyes, she opens her phone to “MDC”

-.-.-.-.-  
  
YOU: Don’t think just because of this that I like you.

YOU: Lie-la is just more annoying.

-.-.-.-.-

Across the room, Marinette giggles as she takes a bite of her cookie.

-.-.-.-.-

MDC: yeah yeah

MDC: the enemy of my enemy is my friend

MDC: thanks for believing in me

YOU: Between you and Lie-la it wasn’t really a choice.

YOU: …

YOU: And you didn’t hear it from me, because I dislike you.

YOU: But… I am sorry for bullying you all those years.

YOU: You better not forgive me because that does not erase years of honest to god bullying.

MDC: are we really having this conversation in the middle of class?

MDC: and you didn’t need to apologize. I already forgave you the second you msged me about lila

MDC: you’re a better person then you give yourself credit for

MDC: afterall, you had the compassion to apologize and clearly are being better

YOU: goddammit. 

  
MDC: however  
  


YOU: oh thank god you aren’t rushing into this with forgiveness only

YOU: I don’t think I could bear it

MDC: haha

MDC: I forgive you, but i do not forget.

MDC: with that said, I think we’d be great friends

MDC: what’dya say?

YOU: I am definitely only befriending you for the pastries

YOU: Nothing else.

  
MDC: what about my ‘forgiving’ nature? ;)

YOU: Go to hell

MDC: haha 

MDC: come over after school?  
  
MDC: i want to try and bake eclairs

YOU: of course

YOU: I’ll be there at 5

YOU: ...Thank you.

MDC: nothing to thank me for

-.-.-.-.-

Chloe shoots a glare at Marinette’s direction after reading that. Marinette winks and goes back to nibbling on her cookie.

She scrolls up, however randomly the action may or may not have been. 

  
-.-.-.-.-

  
_Start of message history between @MDC and @Chloé_Bourgeois_

YOU: Marinette.

MDC: Chloe?  
  


YOU: ...yes.

YOU: Before you exit out of this conversation, let me explain.

YOU: Lila is a liar. And I know she is.

  
MDC: how did you figure it out?

  
YOU: Please, as if it was hard. Whenever she “cries” the tears are rarely actually there. Makes one believe she wasn’t crying in the first place.

YOU: As a bully, I still have standards, you know.  
  
YOU: Sure, I lie, but she brings it to another standard.

YOU: Whatever, this doesn’t matter.

YOU: Just don’t let it get to you.  
  
YOU: God knows if you are akumatized you would be terrifying.

MDC: …  
  
MDC: Thank you.

YOU: It’s not a favor, by the way.

YOU: and don’t get sappy on me.

YOU: I just need to make sure the..

YOU: “everyday ladybug” doesn’t become an evil ladybug.

MDC: *gasp* do i dare say

MDC: is this you, chloe bourgeois 

MDC: admitting to being a decent person?  
  


  
YOU: Shut up. Don’t tell anyone about this.  
  
YOU: Whatever. Bye.

MDC: Bye. 

MDC: and thank you. 

MDC: it means a lot.

YOU: Nothing to thank me for.

  
  
-.-.-.-.-

She closes the chat, and then her phone.

Chloe turns to Sabrina. “Sabrina,” she starts. “I have something I want to talk to you about.”  
  
Sabrina perks up, as always, so reliable despite Chloe being so cruel to her…

“It’s about Lila.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> comments and kudos really motivate me! thank you for reading! I hope you stay with me for the rest of this fic! 
> 
> As you can tell, this chapter came out a bit longer, and also the style kinda.. changed? I hope that didn't make it hard to read. I hope you guys enjoy this, I had a lot of fun making it!
> 
> I hope you are okay with chloe's little section!


	3. the sun hides away

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Sabrina is nothing if a friend and she'd be damned if she didn't listen, Kim listens to his friends and observes, and Nino recalls some facts. After all, he had a reporter for a girlfriend and picked up some tips on the way.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hi guys! I just want to say I am BLOWN AWAY by the support this fic got! over 100 kudos! That's so crazy to me!  
> I hope you stick around and enjoy the writing I am putting out! I was never too great at salting so this is more of a... introspective(?) take on everything. No loud exposed videos or behind the scene take downs... just the quiet, and perhaps not sudden, realization of the lies one tells.
> 
> I hope you enjoy this chapter! <3

“What’s up, Chloe?” Sabrina asked curiously. She wondered what the blond wanted. Perhaps for her to order and track a new Prada purse? A Gucchi belt? Her favorite brand of eyeshadow?   
  


“It’s about Lila.”  
  
“What about her?” As much as Chloe might seem cruel and Sabrina might be viewed as her “servant”, the other members in her class didn’t see Chloe shield her from akuma attacks if they are caught together, the other members didn’t see the handmade sweater that Chloe made on her birthday, didn’t see the genuine fun they both had on the many trips they took together, didn’t see the bracelets that (when she was a child, were carefully crafted with string, and when she became a teenager, were crafted just as carefully, but with added on charms and beads that’d spell out her name.) she’d painstakingly make with her hands, getting more detailed and more beautiful by year.  
  
Perhaps their relationship was weird, and perhaps they were regarded oddly, and yes, perhaps Chloe has done dumb and stupid things that made Sabrina, for just a few minutes, and just a few seconds, hate her, but everyone did stupid things and everyone got mad at their friends at some point. Chloe wasn't as mean or- or special as the class sometimes seem to make her out as.

  
Just because she was… rich, or something, doesn’t make her any different. And yes, she does get out of trouble by pulling the mayor card, but if you had the opportunity to get out of trouble and get the ones you dislike to an extent, would you?   
  
Perhaps you said no. Perhaps you didn’t. Everyone is different and Sabrina knows this. Chloe’s just in the latter category, and perhaps she isn't the nicest person. At least in public, with people she couldn’t care less about..

Let’s just say Chloe was so much sweeter in reality, at her place, where she could be herself and nerd over Ladybug like any other teenager. Perhaps you don’t believe Sabrina. 

Well, it doesn’t matter. You either like Chloe and begrudgingly accept her as she is, or you hate her and Chloe goes on her merry way. 

She was getting off topic. This topic was about… Lila. Sabrina didn’t realize at first the frankly ridiculous lies the girl was telling until Chloe told her to look out, to which she did because why wouldn’t she? And you’d be surprised how easy it was to debunk what she said on a daily basis… or perhaps not, if you already know. 

Chloe seemed thoughtful. “Well, hm. You know how she’s lying to everyone in class and how they are all fools for being so stupid to believe her?”  
  
Sabrina nods. Although she had believed Lila, as soon as she was told to look out, suddenly she noticed how… dumb some of it was. How did she get so many connections? Sabrina even did some research on Lila, and her family. The dad was apparently out of state working, her grandparents worked on some berry picking farm, and the mom… while she was a part of the Italian ambassary, she was… in fact, not the ambassador of Italy, but rather the _secretary_ of the ambassador of Italy. Perhaps that might get her _mom_ connections, but certainly not her _daughter_ and _certainly_ not to the extent Lila claimed. Ambassadors don’t even travel all that much when stationed at a new place!

What made all of this even more laughable was the fact that even if she _were_ to have the connections _somehow,_ she _also_ claimed to have been born and raised in Italy for nearly all her life. Which begs the question of _how_ she managed to establish a bond _so deep_ in the seemingly short times she spent in all the various business places her mother “went” to that she followed with the most _well known people_ from that said area, that _just happened_ to align with the interests of the person she was conversing with?

Seems more than a little suspicious, she’d say. Last they chatted, Chloe handed her the files on Lila Rossi and told her to dig at any little thing that said contrary to what Lila would say- funny how blank the medical section was when compared to what Lila had claimed. 

“I need to stop the whole ‘exposing Lila plan. Scrap the docs and slides you made.”  
  
Sabrina blinks rapidly. “...Alright.” She says, eyes looking at Chloe with a question. _Why?_   
  
Chloe stares back. “Meet me at the sushi place at lunch today.” _Not here._   
  
“Okay Chloe.” She listened to Chloe, not because she was some- some servant, but because… well… they were friends.

  
  


* * *

  
Kim knew something was wrong as soon as Alix and Max began to avoid Lila. He was _cocky,_ not _blind_.

So when he excitedly regales them with Lila’s promise to introduce him to Katie Ledecky, he was kinda already expecting the side glances they shot at each other and a sort of guilty look on their faces.

This didn’t really prepare him for their question, though it does make him think.  
  
“Say, Kim… Lila mentioned that she had been in Italy nearly all her life, but nearly all of the people she says she met have never been to Italy, so how could she have visited them two weeks or more at a time?” _Including Katie,_ Alix doesn’t say. She carefully avoids looking at him, he noticed, because she always stared at him like every word was a challenge. (And naturally, what would he do but accept the challenge? It was never really a question.)   
  
“Well I mea…” Kim starts, ready to defend his friend before he really begins to think about it. He _knows_ Katie Ledecky, because she was one of his favorite female swimmers and he made a point of tracking which competitions she goes to, and she had never even been to Italy, not once.   
  
Max pushes his glasses up the bridge of his nose much like those anime characters that Adrien sometimes talks about and very, very carefully stares at the oh-so-interesting wall right behind Kim as he confirms the new puzzle piece that Kim was beginning to notice- one that really, _really_ , didn’t align with what he had been given. “According to some research Marcov and I have done, Katie Ledecky has never been to Italy.” 

“But that means…” Alix was strangely quiet, Kim noticed. She’d usually say some smart-ass comment by now, but she was just looking at him with a guilty-sad expression.

“Yes, Kim,” Max said matter-of-factly. Neither Alix nor Kim give any sign that they heard the slight tremor in his voice. “Lila has been lying to you. She has been lying to us all.”  
  
And Kim…   
  
Well, he wasn’t as shocked as he thought he’d be. He wasn’t super upset or angry or mad…   
  
Really, it was almost as if he was expecting it… but that couldn’t be the case, right?   
  
“Oh,” He hears himself vaguely say. “That…” And then he trailed off. That what? He stares a little blankly at the wall behind his two best friends. 

Well, now he knew.

And Lila never did figure out why he stopped inviting her to swim practice- and starting making excuses as to why she couldn’t visit him during swim practice. (“It’s a close practice, sorry!” or “Ondine and I are trying to bond together after the breakup… we still wanna be friends but everything’s a little awkward, you know? We decided to hang out after every swimming practice- It wouldn’t be good to invite a girl to them, you feel?” or even “Sorry, I have to go home and finish my homework right after- it wouldn’t be very convenient…”)

(Marinette forgave him after he got on his knees and begged for forgiveness- she said she would have forgiven him without the groveling but Kim was nothing if extra and he was completely willing to spend a few minutes embarrassing himself if it made up for even a fraction of how badly of a friend he was to Marinette. You’d think he’d treat his _childhood friend_ better then some… some two-cent _bitch_ with _sausages_ for hair. Speaking of childhood friends… he wonders if Nino figured out the pieces for himself?)

  
  


* * *

Nino was only vaguely aware that Lila was lying. His subconscious said the girl was bad news but his girlfriend said the opposite. His girlfriend believed Lila and… Nino follows where his girl goes. 

And so he was aware Lila was lying but he also really, really wasn’t. He smiled and agreed with his girlfriend because his girlfriend was so, so important to him, even if he didn’t agree. She was headstrong and wonderful and brave and he _loved_ her for it.   
  
Sometimes, though, he wonders if he could have supported Alya and also point out the holes in Lila’s… stories. He thinks about how for someone who is supposedly a good boyfriend, that he really doesn’t do things that a good boyfriend should do. He doesn’t ward away bad influences of Alya away… he just listens and agrees with his girlfriend.

Maybe that needs to change. But… was Lila _really_ a liar? He couldn’t really go walze up to his girl and say “Hey Darling, Lila’s a hack- I don’t have any proof but I got this gut feeling..” For heaven's sake she was a reporter- she always followed the motto “A good reporter always verifies her sources!”   
  
...Only, she didn’t really… verify her sources, did she? She believed a new girl over her best friend based on the illusion that her best friend was just… what, jealous? Over a guy?   
  
Marinette was a lot of things, and no, she wasn’t perfect, yes, she was anxious and made mistakes, and _yes_ , perhaps she had a rather… extensive schedule of Adrien but she does that to _literally everyone._ She also reminds them updates they forget- she isn’t just… doing it for a guy. 

And she isn’t as boy crazy as Lila seems intent on showing Alya. She’s always cared about others before her for all the holy gods in the sky- she brought in sweets all the time- brightened everyone’s days with reassurances and a bright smile and she always, _always_ was there for her friends.

(He wonders if he was ever there for _her_ .)   
  
She wasn’t some… some hack that obsesses over Adrien and is jealous to everyone- yes, she might have been jealous of Kagami, but she eventually got over it and was at least civil to Kagami- which… makes him wonder why the class ever thought she _wouldn’t_ give her own seat away to someone who was struggling, why she _would_ accuse someone of being a liar with supposedly no “basis” and-

...Did they even listen to her? The more Nino argued with himself the more ridiculous this whole thing appeared. Why did he ever question his friend? For fuck’s sake, he grew up from diapers with her- he knows all her deepest, darkest secrets (She has two plushies named “Ladybug mini” and “Chat Noir mini” and _yes_ she sleeps with them) and all of her troubles and anxious thoughts (What if I trip over a rock when I go to present? What if it’s a snail and I kill it? What if they kick me out? Oh my god Nino what if they hate me? They’re gonna hate me aren’t they? Maybe I should just let someone else enter instead of me..”).   
  
...Why the hell would he ever think _Marinette “I brought snacks if anyone didn’t bring money” Dupain-Cheng_ could _ever_ have harmed someone intentionally and _stole_ from them?   
  
Even if Marinette _did_ somehow push Lila off the stairs, it was probably because she was clumsy or something… she would never do that.

Jesus Christ. What a mess. He should tell Alya… would she believe him?  
  
Perhaps if he had a bit more proof. He loves the girl but _yikes_ if she wasn’t the most stubborn person he’d ever met…

And _damn it all_ if he isn’t attracted to her.   
  
No one noticed when he stopped excitedly jumping into the conversation about Lila and the promises she made except for one blonde who was more than happy to stay quiet, except for the tip tap of her nails on her phone as she texts.

  
(Marinette beams happily at the back of the class at something her phone said.)   
  


**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Oh boy. I should probably also mention that the chapter count might rise. I have... Ideas and I won't be stopped! *mwahahahahhaah!*


	4. the rain dribbles

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> In which Mylene is petty, Ivan loves his girlfriend a lot, and someone finally tells Adrien that people aren't tabloid magazines.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Oh my god. Oh my god. OkAY SO first of all!! everyone please give Yami_Kada7 kudos or something because I probably would have spent even more time not writing this chapter if it weren't for their wonderful comment that inspired me! Like I said, comments motivate me to pick up the fic when I'm not feeling inspired so please! 
> 
> AND ALSO! WHATTTT?? Remember when I thanked y'all for 100+ kudos? you know, the last chapter? I literally can't believe there were 150+ kudos after that?? that's??? wild?? Y'all I'm literally Quaking!! 
> 
> I hope you enjoy this chapter and hopefully the next two will come quicker!

Mylene liked seeing the best in everyone. That’s why she doesn’t question why Rose doesn’t sound as excited listening to Lila’s stories, or why Nino is often on his phone when Lila regals the classroom with stories of that week’s adventures instead of watching curiously.

That’s why she never questioned Lila. Sure, she noticed some things were odd with her stories but really, who was she to determine what was true and what wasn’t? Who was she to say that Lila was lying?

  
So she was content listening to the whimsical and fun stories of Lila. Because she believed they could do it. But sometimes, just sometimes, when she’s at home, alone, her mom working and her dad out in a meeting, when the sky starts to turn black and her phone is charging, when she is all alone, sitting on her bed, staring at a sky of stars that are so much more vast and everflowing compared to her, she’d crack down on her day and think to herself that perhaps Marinette was right.

Perhaps, perhaps, perhaps. 

It all came down to that, didn’t it?

  
You see, it wasn’t that Mylene was unobservant, nor was it that she was particularly weak-hearted, because yes, she didn’t like scary things, and perhaps they scare her enough for her to cry and get upset- but by _no means_ does this mean she is a pushover.  
  
Perhaps this was a horrible way to do things, but it’s _her_ way to do things. She’s not being unfair… she’s doing what everyone else believes they should be doing. 

You know, until she found out Lila was _absolutely_ a filthy, horrible, _liar_ . Somewhere in her subconsciousness, she already knew, but she thinks it was somewhere between Lila claiming she _couldn’t get the tickets, sorry, she didn’t want to seem rude,_ and, _oh, you know, claiming that_ her _dad was involved in not_ great _activities_ that she really snapped.

_Her_ dad. There are many things Mylene can stand. _Hurting her dad’s reputation?_  
  
That wasn’t one of them.  
  
So yeah, perhaps she couldn’t be excused for ignoring the…. The complete _hag_ that Lila _absolutely is_ but she’s completely sure she could be somewhat excused for snapping a pencil or three.  
  
This utter _defamation_ of her dad’s character was completely _uncalled_ for and Mylene knows for a _fact_ Lila did not “work with him” and that he was not “somewhat touchy” because Mylene knows _exactly_ what she is implying about _her dad_ (Which is absolutely, absolutely _unacceptable._ Not to mention completely out of character and therefore _false._ Mylene would _love_ to see Lila try and pretend she knows her dad better than Mylene does. Did Lila grow up with the man? She didn’t think so.) and because Mylene has been to _every rehearsal he had been to since she was_ seven _and she didn’t see even a_ sliver _of that stupid_ sausage _looking hair._ Ever.

Of course, she shows none of this, instead violently thinking about it. So she doesn’t notice bits of pencils she snapped in the middle of class, (when she said she could be excused for snapping a pencil or three she wasn’t exactly joking, not that her thoughts realized this until later.) nor the wide-eyed look on Alix, nor the mildly murderous aura she gives off.

_I should tell Ivan about this,_ she thinks Idly, not noticing the pressure she was putting on her replacement pen until it too, snaps and ink splatters everywhere.

As she stepped out of the classroom to clean herself, she slipped Ivan a note and pretended she didn’t realize that Lila’s worksheet was conveniently there on the table as she ‘forgot’ that she had ink on her hands- ‘ _Oh my god Lila! I’m so sorry, I didn’t mean to press my hand on your worksheet… It looks like it’s almost complete, I’m so sorry!’_ \- on her way out.  
  
Never let it be known that Mylene can’t be _vicious_ when she feels like it. For a girl who was so sweet and had the patience of a saint, she’s someone to fear when she snaps. 

  
And boy did she.

  
  


* * *

Ivan was… understandably, just a little, scared of his wonderful, beautiful, sweet girlfriend. Who was apparently very angry. 

Call him wimp, but out of the two of them, neither of them were particularly angry people. If there was anyone that was ever _scared_ of the two of them, It would usually be Ivan- for being so much bigger and all. Rarely were they ever angry. Of course, until they were. Even he was aware that people pick him out as the one to be aware of, but really, when Mylene gets mad?  
  
She goes _feral._

  
If he had to pick between wrestling a bear and facing a _pissed_ Mylene, he is absolutely not ashamed to admit he’d rather fight the bear.

  
It’s something you have to be _there_ for to understand. (If you are _really_ curious, you’d have to ask Alix about “The Squid Incident”. _Never. Again._ )

  
So… yeah, the fact that Mylene was, one second, happily writing on that day’s assignments and half-handedly listening to Lila and her stories (which Ivan was kinda hung up on in a not great way. He could have sworn the actor of Tony Stark ((Genius, billionaire, playboy, philanthropist-)) from _Iron Man_ was _Robert John Downey Jr._ , not _Chris Hemsworth_ , who he is almost completely sure is the actor of _Thor_ . But he might just be overthinking?) and the next couldn’t stop snapping pencils left and right with a _murderous_ glare in her eyes _did_ make him mildly scared for whoever that was reserved for... Was it that time of the month already? He could have sworn it wasn’t anytime soon… 

  
When she handed him a note with ‘ _Talk at lunch- Delemars?’_ He quietly prayed for the person Mylene was so mad at. Well, they probably deserve it? Mylene doesn’t get mad over small things. She just gets very, very sad. (The second one scares him more, if he is being honest. It was one thing to see your loved one get mad, and another to see them break down and cry because of _hurt_.)

The whole thing with Lila _did_ make him wonder- the excuses and wide-eyed frantic apologies were about as fake as the new nails Lila sported that she claimed was _all natural_. No. Ivan sat through enough makeup days with Marc and Alix on days when they wanted to feel a little more feminine to notice that those nails were about as real as those plastic grass lawns.

Keeping those things in mind, as the class dismissed, he headed to his locker for lunch and politely declines Lila’s offer for lunch together with a short but sweet “Mylene and I are going out,” and a firmer but no less short “It’s a couple thing, sorry Lila.” When she tried to invite herself along,. And if he just happens to stumble across a flower cart nearby and buys Mylene bundles of Chrysanthemums (her favorite), then that’s really just a coincidence.

  
  


* * *

“What’d you want to talk about?” He asked, flourishing the bundle of Chrysanthemums at Mylene with a smile.  
  
Mylene flushes, taking the flowers and hugging them to her chest. “It’s uh… I just… Lila.”  
  
Ivan raises a brow, amused. “Lila?”  
  
“Did you hear what she said in class? About… about “Fred”? The actor?”  
  
“Not really..? Wait… do you think she’s talking about your dad?”  
  
“She said she worked with him during _‘The Mime's Extraordinary Adventures’_. You remember- Dad was the leading role! It was definitely him! The comments she made about him…” She hugs the flowers tighter. 

  
Ivan spends the rest of the lunch comforting Mylene while he silently plots murder.

  
When he finally discloses his ideas, Mylene giggles, a wet little thing, and very gently, but very firmly, said no.

  
He ~~pouts~~ mopes and the two come to a compromise.  
  
  
Mylene was a sweet little thing, of course, but she also happened to be quite the mischievous one. 

  
Lila never did find out who put an entire little tank of tadpoles and _frogs_ in her locker.

  
Alix and Nathaniel (and in turn, Marc) notice, and highfive. Chloe observes, unimpressed as Lila _screeches_ and sobs, _whining_ about frogs and how the stuff in her locker was ruined. She blinks as her phone pings.  
  
-.-.-.-.-  
  


YOU: If I am right, Mylene and Ivan have found out about the Liar.

  
MDC: I had a whole scale “Operation: Take Down The Sausage” revenge plan thought out- can’t believe Lila’s downfall wasn’t even caused by me.

  
YOU: Guess your friends were smarter than I thought they were. 

  
MDC: Damn right they are. They are _my_ friends.

  
YOU: So you say.

-.-.-.-.-  
  
  
  


* * *

Adrien wasn’t sure what was going on, but he felt a vague sort of _shift_ in the room, and with it, any respect and adoration Lila garnered.

Lila didn’t seem to realize at first, but after the frog spawn and frog and actual _tank_ in her locker-

As one does, you grow… suspicious. Adrien prays she doesn’t become an akuma. That she doesn’t actually hurt anyone.  
  
At this rate, he is almost kinda vaguely… regretting his choice to stay back and take the high route. But… at least everyone is catching on.  
  
Regrettably, he had thought the lies were obvious- after all, he knew that his Lady- er- Ladybug, was loyal to fault to those she loved. To those around her. She’s devoted enough Adrien knows she’d never befriend civilians outside of hero work and protecting the city.

He thought perhaps Alya would catch on, but oddly enough, she was one of the first to believe Lila. 

Maybe that was where he went wrong. Perhaps he didn’t know Alya as well as he thought he did.  
  
Alya was always so supportive of Marinette, so this sudden… change- complete denial that Lila could have ever been lying seemed… off. 

  
Adrien couldn’t figure out what was wrong until one day Chloe pulled him over, gave him a hard look and pinched him.

  
“Ou-uch? Chloe why did you do that?” 

  
“You,” She says, “Are an Idiot.”  
  
  
Adrien blinks. “W-what’d I do?” She rolls her eyes.  
  
  
“Listen, I know you grew up with your uptight and strict father, but _Lila_ is not a _tabloid._ She is a real, living, breathing person and people listen to _people_ better then they listen to _gossip magazines_ .” She takes a deep breath.  
  
“And contrary to “Sticks and stones may break my bones, but words will never break me.”, words do actually _hurt people._ ” She blinks. “I would know.”  
  
  
“...Wait… what…” he squeaks. “I… she’s hurting people?” 

  
“Adrien.” Chloe very firmly leads him to a table. 

  
She pauses and just… soaks him in.

  
“There are three types of hurt, I think.” she finally says, staring at him with narrowed eyes. “Physical, mental and emotional.”  
  
  
Adrien tilts his head. “I don’t… follow?”  
  
  
“Lila might not be _physically_ hurting anyone, but…” she pauses. “How would you feel if all your friends suddenly ignore you? What if they… hate you, all of the sudden?”  
  
  
“I would be very confused and…” _Oh._ Adrien’s eyes widened.  
  
  
“And?”  
  
  
“And… and hurt.”

  
“Adrien. Lila isn’t a tabloid. She is a living, breathing person. And she hurt Marinette. She hurt all of them.”

  
“I…”  
  


She looks at him, perhaps with a little pity, not that he could really tell. “Just think about it.”  
  


And then she walked away.  
  


...what happened?  
  


He hears a little whisper, and Plagg peeks out of his bag. “See, princey? She’s right you know? When did the girl mature more than you?”  
  


When… indeed? He has some things to think about. Absentmindedly, he shoves a piece of Camembert Plagg’s way and starts for class.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hey everyone! I just wanted to write this out pretty quick because I realize it might seem like Marinette was too forgiving, but in this timeline au, Lila hasn’t been here too long, and also, Marinette in canon was… really forgiving. Which I didn’t like, and mind you some of these people deserve to not be forgiven, but as a little side thing that I don’t really mention (i might in a future chapter :eyes:) i am taking the quote “Forgive but not Forget” as seriously as i can! This means yes, Marinette forgives them, but she won’t forget that it happened, and perhaps, if this ever happened again, she won’t be so quick to forgive.... I wish she took more action, but I thought leaving her more forgiving would work better. Of course, if i write more lila bashing, it won’t be so pretty… anyways at this point, at the start, Marinette forgives easy, but with more… proactive people, she… won’t be as kind. I always felt the class didn’t really.. Do much for Marinette, but I guess I’ll work with that in another story..? this story is kinder then I would be to the classmates, I mean, and also they were really good friends and I feel like marinette would excuse them for that (even tho its not something I think she should forgive but!) also as I mentioned lila hasnt been around for as long- shes like,,, almost a fetus in terms of how long she's been here. Maybe toddler stage. SO YEAH IN CASE THAT CONFUSES ANYONE AKSJDKASDJKDS
> 
> love yall and i hoped you enjoyed this chapter!
> 
> OH also uhhh for plot purposes I made it so mylene's dad's last name isnt her last name-whether mylene took her moms name or she has his old surname and when he married her mom, changed his name to hers? whatever you want.


	5. the thunder rumbles

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Where Lila crows in her so-called success, Marinette thinks, and someone finally tells Alya what the hell is going on.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> *peeks from behind procrastination.* heyyyyyyyyyy guys- oh. *stares at skeletons.* its been a while hasn't it?
> 
> (but seriously, oh my god, you guys are crazy, while i've been gone y'all really did just almost double the kudo count didn't you? you guys are crazy. enjoy the chapter! <3)

Lila couldn’t say where it really started, when the little lap dogs stopped listening with adoring eyes and questions on their lips.    
  
The only thing she knew was that her throne was crumbling, and fast.    
  
It probably had something to do with Marinette, when doesn’t it? She just needs to figure out  _ what,  _ exactly, the bluenette had told them.    
  
And crush that thought.   
  
_ “She’s lying again! She always has something against me,”  _ she’d cry.   
  
Lila smiled. It wasn’t exactly that  _ hard _ anyways. All she needed was a couple of tears and words of poison laced in between them, and there they go, turning against the person they had been convinced by.

Really, what a pathetic group of so-called “friends.”

Well, all the better for her. She carefully bunches her hair into little…  _ fox tails _ , and applies a light layer of lip gloss. 

Tucking her shirt in, she looks at the mirror one more time, a carefully made smile on her lips and a new, exciting story on the tip of her tongue.    
  
She turns away, heading towards the kitchen, studying the pristine fruit bowl before picking out the reddest apple in the bunch.   
  
After all, wasn’t she the fairest of them all? Surely, she deserved her happiness ever after. All she needed to do was… to poison the real princess.   
  
She never was meant to be the main character, but it’s easier than one could expect. All you need is a smile and righteous attitude. All you needed was to act that you were always there, and then, perhaps, she could finally shine above the rest. 

She bit into the apple. It was sweet. Perhaps, even as sweet as her eventual victory.

The long game was a precarious game, but she thinks- no. She  _ knows _ she has the upper hand.

* * *

  
  


Marinette wasn’t exactly sure where it started either, though she supposes when Max and Alix first came to the bakery and apologized.   
  
Honestly, ever since Chloe had dragged her to the bathroom (why is it always the  _ bathroom _ , doesn’t this school have other places to talk privately? The bathroom isn’t even that  _ private _ for Gods’ sake!) would probably be more accurate.   
  
As soon as the girl had opened her lips and talked, Chloe took one look at her and internally went-“Wow! What a big lying snob!” Marinette couldn’t be more thankful.   
  
It seemed as soon as Alix and Max stepped forward with apologies, the rest slowly trickled in with apologies and gifts (she has a ridiculous amount of chocolate stacked in her room, thankfully Tikki consumes chocolate cookies quite quickly. The amount of Akuma’s have stopped coming daily, which is nice, but it does make Marinette wonder where all the cookies are going. Tikki squeaked the last time she asked.) 

Well, at least this means she didn’t have to do her 7 step “Make Everyone Realize Lila Is Nasty” plan. (MERLIN, for short, just to punctuate that this was, in fact, for Merlin’s sake.)

_ Well _ , as she walks into the classroom and notices Alya hanging out with Lila happily, perhaps she could still do the plan.

_ But… _ she looks around the room, and eyes that once had hurt and disgust towards her weren’t aimed at her anymore. 

She smiles, and it’s slight, yes, but it was always nice to know that your friends of several years would  _ eventually _ realize that you are, in fact, not a liar, and would actually figure out for themselves that Lila was, in fact, a liar of extremes.

She ignores the sting that this shouldn’t be something she should be concerned about- that friends ought to at least hear you out before declaring you as jealous, because internally, she thought, she  _ did _ like Adrien almost obsessively before, didn’t she?    
  
Then she got the biggest vibe check of all time and she realized  _ hey maybe I’m just projecting my fantasies on the first model guy I genuinely meet who isn’t a, oh you know,  _ total  _ asshole? _

Now, she realizes a lot of Adrien’s meek personality comes with not being able to say no,  _ literally _ , to anything he has to do in life. Piano classes? Check. Fencing? Check. Chinese? Naturally, check.    
  
Now, she realizes he wasn’t being nice just  _ because _ , but because he literally wasn’t taught to be anything else, and how could he ever deviate from that if he can’t say no to anything?    
  
Now, she realizes, looking back at her crush, that she was very, very silly.   
  
The most they’d ever be, she reflects with a bit of sadness and a pinch of absentmindedness, is friends.    
  
She finds she’s not… actually that upset over it. Sure, she’d blush and stutter, but it was as if finding out Adrien was taught to be a yes-men shattered her illusion of him, of the dreamy wonder she thought he was. Suddenly, she picks out the flaws in him.

Sure, he was aesthetically pleasing and sweet when you first know him, but now, she feels like a big idiot.    
  
Not to sound like some girl pretending to get over a crush, because she’s gonna get over this    
_ crush  _ if it killed her, (and that  _ was _ what it was, wasn’t it? Just a crush. She thinks sadly. It was infatuation, admiration, wrapped into a big bundle she called love.) but she still likes him.    
  
She can say all she wants that she’s over him, but there was just this tiny part of her heart, the bit of first love, that’ll always belong to him. Call her sappy, but even when she got over him, she’d still remember the months spent running after a boy that’ll never look back with the same look in his eyes.

She’s okay with that, she thinks.   
  
Still, she knows even then that pinning someone’s consistent deviant from normal behavior  _ solely _ on being  _ jealous _ is a bit much. Sure, she gets if they say  _ some _ of it stems from jealousy- because wasn’t her finding out one of Lila’s blalent lies  _ because _ of jealousy? But… all of it?   
  
They disregarded her kindness from before, pegging it as jealousy and every single one of them believed the new girl over her-    
  
Well. That kinda hurt. A lot.   
  
She’s happy they came to their senses, if you could call it that, but some part of her wonders if any of this was  _ her _ fault. Was she too angry? Was she not kind enough? Was it because of how she acted?   
  
And then, the  _ only guy _ who knew from the get-go that Lila was lying to them all-   
  
He also disregarded her feelings, didn’t he? He also threw her hopeful heart of someone  _ finally _ being on the  _ truthful  _ side (intentionally on the lying side or not, her classmates were clearly not on her side.) to the curbside, and watched with unknowing eyes as it’s ran over by several bikers and tossed into a sewer, where it shatters into a thousand different pieces.   
  
That hurt, too.   
  
But she can recover. She can pick up the shattered pieces and wipe them anew, she can clean the sewer stench and carefully glue together her heart, once so strong, into something new. Something that might just be stronger.    
  
It won’t be whole. Her heart- her love- was never truly whole, she thinks. Years of bullying and neglect from teachers does that to a person, she supposes, but she grew from them.   
  
Her heart was once of glass, happy and free. She built it with stone and love and cherished it, but still, it was too weak.   
  
She took her mind and new memories, her broken pieces- dust and all- and forged a heart of titanium. She will be strong.   
  
She will love, and she will absorb the sun once more to warm those around her, but as things go, she will not hesitate to burn those who hurt twice.   
  
She is forgiving, but forgiveness comes at a cost. She can forgive, but she will never forget.    
  
And lord prays for anyone who crosses her wrath, what trust they had irreparably destroyed.    
  
She’s not famous, and she’s not the most talented. But she has talent, and she has love. She has spite, and whoever said spite wasn’t a deadly force clearly never met someone who’s been pushed down. A diamond in the rough, but she’s ready to shine.   
  
Perhaps she lost the war, but she wonders if Lila ever heard of a “Pyrrhic victory” before. 

* * *

  
  
  


Alya was aware something was wrong when her boyfriend started to avoid Lila. She just couldn’t figure out  _ what _ exactly.

She thought about bringing it up with him, but Lila tugged at her arm and she forgot about that train of thought in favor of hearing about Lila’s  _ wonderful _ phone call with  _ Robin Roberts _ , and  _ Oh Alya, she was so nice! _

She listens with rapt eyes and perhaps just a  _ little _ bit of jealousy, (she ignores it, because jealousy never got anyone  _ anywhere _ , and she ignores the small voice that says jealousy  _ wasn’t _ the reason that Marinette kept calling Lila out, why wouldn’t it be?) a smile on her lips that felt fake.   
  
But why?    
  
Nevertheless, she lets Nino be, and she’s content with that.

Until today.

After school, she waited outside the classroom for Nino, dragging him off to a quiet hallway.   
  
“What is  _ up _ with you?” She says to her boyfriend, who has the gall to look confused.

  
“What do you mean?” He says, tilting his head. (And  _ oh _ , that was absolutely adorable but-  _ Alya! You got to focus! You have to channel your inner scolding mom voice- don’t you  _ dare _ smile now- _ )   
  
She snorts.  _ Fuck.  _   
  
Clearing her throat, she shoots Nino a hardened glare. “You keep spacing out whenever Lila talks? Today you literally put on music the  _ second _ that Lila started talking about her conversation with Ch-”

“Babe,” Nino says, and doesn’t that just soften her heart? “Look, I’m sure you think Lila is a wonderful friend,”

“Oh not this again,” Alya cuts off. “What, you think she’s  _ lying _ or something? You and I  _ both _ know Marinette-”   
  
“Well,” Nino says, and Alya steps back.   
  
“You can’t think Lila is lying  _ too? _ Nino I thought you were on my side!”   
  
“ _ Well _ ,” he says, and he looks her in the eyes. “I  _ am _ on your side babe, but  _ your _ side is informing you of lies by close friends. Lila  _ is _ a liar- remember when she said that Ladybug and her were besties?”   
  
Alya narrows her eyes. “Yes…” She tilts her head, before her eyes widen. “Wait bu-”   
  
“Remember Stan-za? That one obsessive Ladybug fan who got akumatized after sending letter after letter of their adoration of Ladybug? She did a whole announcement after that Akuma stating that she can’t interact with civilians beyond helping them along their way because of how much danger that would put them in for Hawkmoth?” He pauses slightly to gauge her reaction. “She said the only one she’d ever be close to would be Chat Noir, and if she ever  _ was _ friends with anyone outside of Chat Noir as Ladybug, It wouldn’t be something that they’d say in any way shape or form.”

“Lila..” Alya breathed.   
  
“..Lied,” Nino finished. “Yeah, she did, didn’t she?”   
  
“I..” Alya says. “I need to apologize! To Marinette- oh my god, I’m such a bad friend!”

“No need.” They hear from behind them, the two of them turning in sync. They see a blonde tapping on her phone, the tip tap of nails on a phone distinctive to them.    
  
Alya scrunches her face. “ _ Chloe?” _   
  
Chloe blinks boredly at her, before she looks back at her phone. “Congrats, you’re officially the last person to know. Best friend my ass,” she says.    
  
“Last… one to know?” She questions.    
  
“That Lie-la Rossi was the biggest liar in all of history? C’mon, keep up.” She yawns, lazy grace in her movement, a far cry from the snobbish and bratty attitude she had before. Still, Alya bristled.    
  
“I-”   
  
Nino blinks. “Everyone else figured it out?” He asks.   
  
Chloe smirks. “Well, everyone except for Lila Rossi herself. Tomorrows gonna be  _ fabulous _ , don’t mess it up, okay?” She flips her hair behind her and turns away.    
  
“What does that  _ mean _ ?” Nino calls after her, Alya still glaring at the blonde.

  
“Check your texts,” she says over her shoulder. “and be prepared.”   


**Notes for the Chapter:**

> y'all i'm so sorry i got stuck on alya's perspective for the longest time and had a really tough time writing this, so i just. put it aside. now, we only need one more chapter!! woooo! also please ignore the spacing, transferring from docs to ao3 always messes it up, and im too tired to go back and fix it at the moment, perhaps some day else ahhhh- 
> 
> i hope you enjoyed this chapter! comments and kudos appreciated!

**Author's Note:**

> i have no idea what im doing, please have mercy on me guys! <3
> 
> Kudos and Comments are welcome and motivate me to work!


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